FRANKFURT: Germany's Daimler reported a 12 percent gain in underlying second-quarter operating profit on Wednesday as new models including the C-Class sedan lifted earnings at its Mercedes-Benz Cars business.
The Stuttgart-based maker of trucks and cars said group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) from ongoing business rose to 2.46 billion euros ($3.3 billion) from 2.19 billion in the three months ended June, beating a 2.38 billion average forecast in a Reuters poll.
Profitability at Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Buses and Trucks all rose.
"Our business situation is very positive in mid-2014," finance chief Bodo Uebber said in a statement.
The EBIT of Mercedes-Benz Cars jumped 35 percent and its return on sales - closely watched as a measure of performance compared with rivals Audi and BMW - rose to 7.9 percent from 6.4 percent in the year-earlier quarter as new models hit showrooms.
The company relaunched its A-Class compact late in 2012, unveiled a new S-Class flagship limousine in July 2013 and launched a new C-Class in March. Daimler affirmed its outlook for a significant rise in 2014 group EBIT from ongoing operations compared with 2013 and said it expected results in the second half of the year to exceed those of the first.
On a reported basis, second-quarter group EBIT slumped 41 percent to 3.1 billion euros as a year-earlier one-off gain of 3.2 billion euros ($4.3 billion) from the sale of shares in EADS - now Airbus - was not repeated.
Shares in Daimler were indicated to rise 1.6 percent in pre-market trade, while the German blue-chip DAX index was seen down 0.2 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.